3 Things That Won’t Help Babies Sleep

There is a lot of information (and opinion) about how to get your infant to sleep through the night. Cry it out/don’t cry it out, rocking/no rocking, co-sleeping/crib sleeping, white noise/no noise, breastfeeding or bottle-feeding. Everyone has an idea about what works. Like I said earlier, there is very little data to support one technique over another.

Auspiciously, there is new data that may help us know what NOT to do. Researchers found 3 things to avoid while helping your baby learn to sleep through the night.

The findings may also help us understand how to improve our home environment to ultimately improve infant/toddler sleep. Researchers in Boston followed over 1600 mothers until their babies were 2 years of age. They evaluated the amount of sleep babies got at 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years of age. Study results included:

No rice cereal before 4 months.Feeding rice cereal early in infancy doesn’t help babies/toddlers sleep longer. Many parents hear that rice cereal will satiate a baby to the point that they’ll avoid overnight feeds. The study found babies who were fed rice cereal before 4 months of age slept LESS. I recommend no solids until about 6 months of age. Not because rice cereal is necessarily harmful, rather it likely isn’t helpful and what’s the rush? Wait until the baby is able to sit up independently, then give it a go.

No TV. Research (and instincts) tell us television isn’t good for infants & toddlers. In this study, babies who were placed in front of the TV, slept less at age 1 and 2 years of age. The AAP recommends no TV until age 2. Some families find that impossible. Whatever you do, this study may encourage you to wait until your baby is sleeping through the night.

Avoid depression. Postpartum depression was associated with less sleep in babies and toddlers. Nearly 80% of women who give birth have the “baby blues,” but some women go on to suffer from postpartum depression. Prompt diagnosis and help can improve a mother’s enjoyment of the baby, her suffering, and the baby’s sleep. If you’re worried about your mood or sadness, or another mother’s mood, you can get help. Postpartum depression can be treated. Call the doctor for an appointment to discuss. Or talk with your infant’s pediatrician. It’s always okay to ask for help.

Also, two wildcard non-issues: breast-feeding (versus formula) & maternal smoking seemed to have no effect on sleep duration in the 1 and 2 year-olds.

There you go, the anti-advice. Just 3 things to try not to do. All in the never-ending quest for a good night of sleep.

Interesting. My daughter didn’t sleep through the night until she was over eighteen months old. (She’s twenty months now.) Actually, she still wakes up once at about six, but I can’t really complain about that. (She gets up for good around 7:00am-7:30am.)

Have you ever written about television in general for toddlers and children? I only found your blog recently, but a search didn’t turn anything up for me. My husband and I have very differing views about television for children. His family grew up with the television on all the time. I’ve gotten him to agree to no television until she’s two, but then he’s pushing for television. (He thinks it will calm her down. She’s a busy creature.)

Jen,
I haven’t written a post about TV use. Your comment has encouraged me to do so! Look for more soon. However, the bottom line is this:
TV is not good for kids: we know it contributes to obesity, may contribute to inattention and later diagnoses of ADHD, and may slow language development. TV is a fixture in our culture so many families rely on TV in their home to help them get tasks done, but I don’t think it ever should be considered “good” for children. I don’t know of any scientific studies that states that TV calms children down. Actually, some studies find that TV 2 hours before bedtime should never be allowed because it revs kids up! More later, but I’d say if you have a choice, I’d read books, sing, or play with toys quietly to calm your child down, not turn on the tube.

That is so interesting about PPD and sleep – I wonder how they decided PPD contributed to less sleep, rather than the other way around. I completely agree about TV. We never had one growing up, so I thought everyone who said it was “hard” to not have their kids watch TV was just crazy. But then my child was hospitalized and had several surgeries between 1 and 3 years old, and she was pretty immobilized – what are you going to do to entertain a 15 month old in a hospital bed?! So we got hooked on TV. But with her younger siblings, they never watched any before age 2, and we’ve pretty much weaned off it now. My goal now that she’s starting school: no TV during the week.

Really, we make moral implications from normal baby behaviors. And of course, parents of good sleepers are good parents. Plus, feeding choice plays a role here. Formula fed kids sleep differently than breastfed kids.

Hi Wendy,
Love your blog. I haven’t read the study, but I’m guessing that in many cases having an infant who doesn’t sleep well tends to cause PPD, not the other way around. I had a sleepless newborn and a bad bout of PPD that cleared up around 5 months, after baby’s sleeping patterns matured.

[…] So okay, what to do with this? Know that there is little benefit to starting solids before 4 months of age. Previous studies have found that babies who were started on solids prior to 4 months of age were also worse sleepers. Read my blog post about rice cereal introduction and sleep. […]

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Seattle Children’s provides healthcare for the special needs of children regardless of race, color, creed, national origin, religion, sex (gender), sexual orientation or disability. Financial assistance for medically necessary services is based on family income and hospital resources and is provided to children under age 21 whose primary residence is in Washington, Alaska, Montana or Idaho.